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17 Oct 2012

Ethan Hawke

Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

Classic Stage Company's new production of Anton Chekhov's Ivanov, already extended by two weeks to Dec. 9, begins its run Oct. 17 at CSC's home on East 13th Street. Ethan Hawke plays the title role, sometimes referred to as "the Russian Hamlet." Austin Pendleton directs.

The Off-Broadway staging is part of CSC's popular and acclaimed Chekhov Cycle, for which Pendleton directed Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya. The classic (but lesser-known) 1887 play by the Russian master will officially open Nov. 4. The engagement was originally announced to close on Nov. 25. (The past Chekhov plays at CSC have traditionally sold out.)

Tony Award nominee and film actor Hawke (The Coast of Utopia) stars in the title role, a debt-ridden government official who is a bundle of dissatisfaction. Joely Richardson (Side Effects) plays Anna, his ill Jewish wife who renounced her family for Ivanov. The cast also features Glenn Fitzgerald (Borkin), Roberta Maxwell (Zinaida), George Morfogen (Shabelsky), James Patrick Nelson (Kosykh), Juliet Rylance (Sasha), Jonathan Marc Sherman (Lvov) and Louis Zorich (Lebedev).

Rylance, Maxwell, Morfogen and Zorich have each been featured in previous Chekhov Cycle offerings at CSC.

Ivanov, a play that Chekhov revised many times over the years, has scenic design by Santo Loquasto, costumes by Marco Piemontese, lighting by Keith Parham and original music and sound by Ryan Rumery. The play is translated by Carol Rocamora.